Voter's dash to polls in the rain

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, November 10, 2004

We have had a steady stream of voters all day," said Jenni Slaughter, on Nov. 2. She is a voting judge at Kingwood Shadow Forest Elementary voting location.

Republican Ted Poe swept the race in the newly created Congressional District 2 with 102,611 votes as opposed to Nick Lampson (D) who received 40,572 votes. Lampson spent four terms representing the people of southeast Texas. Representing the Liberatarian party Sandra Leigh Saulsbury received 2,661 votes.

Speaking to an energized crowd of supporters at Tin Roof Barbecue in Humble, Poe said, "This whole campaign has been about nothing but the people."

"I look forward to representing the people in Harris, Liberty and Jefferson counties."

Poe, who is 56 stepped down from his bench where he spent more than 20 years passing down what some consider controversial sentences.

Poe said that his experience on the bench has given him the skills to represent the district in Congress.

He favors a flat income tax and supports President Bush's foreign policies, and supports the fight against terrorism. He said one of the first things he hopes to establish is an education task force to develop solutions to current problems.

When final election results for District 2 were released Congressman Nick Lampson congratulated Poe on his campaign and victory.

"This was certainly the most difficult race of my life, and though my campaign faced steep odds from the beginning due to last year's redistricting, we never gave up and fought until the end," said Lampson.

"Although I was not successful tonight, I am still honored and blessed to have the support of so many southeast Texans, and cannot emphasize enough how grateful and privileged I've been to serve them in Congress the past eight years," he said.

"I worked hard in Washington to face the issues that hard-working families are most concerned about, including jobs, healthcare, and education. I wish Congressman-elect Poe well in continuing to address these and other issues as the new voice of southeast Texas in Washington."

The newly created district covers parts of Harris and Liberty counties, and all of Jefferson. It includes Humble, Atascocita, Spring, Cleveland, Channelview, Baytown, Highlands, Crosby, Sheldon, Liberty, Dayton, Port Arthur, Groves and Beaumont.

Coffelt responded by saying, "No one likes to get stomped in an election," she continued saying the real action began three years ago when those in the state legislature set out to create what some refer to as safe districts; which Joe Crabb was a part of.

"Joe Crabb refused to debate in public and even ignored the League of Women Voter's questionnaire sent to him," she said.

"He knew many voters would vote a straight Republican ticket and he did not have to campaign. He simply rode the strong Republican campaign trails of Poe and President Bush," said Coffelt.

"I hope the voters will hold him accountable as to what he intends to do about the public school financial crisis," she said.

"I do not plan to be silent on this issue. I will be at the legislature, not as an elected official, but as an advocate for our public education fighting for state funding," she said.